Mass effect dev: "Stop thinking you're the producer."

[Saucycarpdog]

http://kotaku.com/5892199/stop-thinking-youre-a-producer-former-mass-effect-designer-tells-gamers

Well, as the people who buy your games, I say we shouldn't be exploited.

EDIT: Just so people know, I have not bought Mass Effect 3.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

This is about Day 1 DLC, not the Endings. A non-issue, to me.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Hahahaha Bioware is so bad at PR.

 

[Savagezion]

Haha, I love the last line.

"Stop thinking you're a producer and telling us when and where we should be building our content."

Um, aren't we the demand in the market? Who better to listen to? EA? Oh wait...

This DLC is "in-your-face" content extortion (Yes, I know what is in it). If someone believes it isn't then they don't believe such a thing exists.

 

[SajuukKhar]

http://kotaku.com/5892199/stop-thinking-youre-a-producer-former-mass-effect-designer-tells-gamers

Well, as the people who buy your games and pay for your salaries, I would say we do have some sort of control in what we want.

that is like saying because you pay for a movie ticket you get to demand the director change th movie.

How can people be so entitled?

 

[Saucycarpdog]

http://kotaku.com/5892199/stop-thinking-youre-a-producer-former-mass-effect-designer-tells-gamers

Well, as the people who buy your games and pay for your salaries, I would say we do have some sort of control in what we want.

that is like saying because you pay for a movie ticket you get to demand the director change th movie.

How can people be so entitled?

Because fans shouldn't be exploited.

How can people be so snarky?

 

[SajuukKhar]

]Because fans shouldn't be exploited.

How can people be so snarky?

Day 1 DLC was used in neither a cruel or unjust manner.

It is far from exploitation.

 

[Lilani]

Well maybe they should stop making us feel like we can do a better job than they can.

Edit: LAWDY people I said feel like, feel like. I did not claim that I or anyone else could, and nor was that the point I was going for. To fully spell it out for you, I am saying that EA and Bioware are not doing what their customers are expecting from them so that is why are talking so much about how their games should be produced. You may also notice this happens a lot in politics, the way people say "Politician A should be doing X, Y, and Z differently and they should leave Q the hell alone." They aren't saying they could do a better job, they're saying the job being done is not to their liking. Does that make sense, now?

 

[distortedreality]

http://kotaku.com/5892199/stop-thinking-youre-a-producer-former-mass-effect-designer-tells-gamers

Well, as the people who buy your games and pay for your salaries, I would say we do have some sort of control in what we want.

that is like saying because you pay for a movie ticket you get to demand the director change th movie.

How can people be so entitled?

Because fans shouldn't be exploited.

How can people be so snarky?

Who exactly is being exploited and how?

Offering choice is hardly exploitation.

 

[elscotty]

The only way we can make them understand is with our wallets.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

This is about Day 1 DLC, not the Endings. A non-issue, to me.

yeah this..

however this is not like the movie industry, this is a whole different medium, with patches and updates and expansions, to not consider changing or adding the endings is silly, it made fallout 3 MUCH more successful when they fixed that garbage of an ending, they should most definitely do the same for ME3, to hopefully line up and finish the momentum the first two games started.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I can't wait for Zeel to come off his suspension. Everything has been building up since then, it will be glorious.

I think that consumers have every right to complain about a product and business practices. If Bioware cannot handle that, it's their own damn fault. They don't need protection, so it baffles me why Keyboard Warriors always pop up to fight in their name.

 

[ThriKreen]

Yes, your $60 purchase of which less than 50% makes it to the developer studio, of which has to be split among who knows how many employees. So how much influence does that actually buy in the long run?

Thing is, just because YOU don't like it, doesn't mean EVERYONE also doesn't like it... quite a lot are ok with DLC. So who should the devs be listening too? The ones boycotting the game, or the ones dropping money down for all those Space Marine skins?

 

[ThriKreen]

Well maybe they should stop making us feel like we can do a better job than they can.

Please do.

Hint: it's much harder than you think it is.

 

[T_ConX]

Well, as the people who buy your games and pay for your salaries, I say we shouldn't be exploited.

If you've already bought the game, you've been exploited. It's called "I've already got your money, dude".

EA knew going into this that, no matter what, there was already a sizable group of gamers who would buy the game without a second thought. The fans. The long-time Bioware fanatics. The folks who wanted to see their Shepard's through to the end.

They were in the bag... Super special limited edition, pre-ordered months in advance...

Secure in the knowledge that they can count on these folks, they start trying to see how much milk they can draw from the tit. Day one DLC... Armor and weapon packs unlocked by buying Art Books and Action figures...

So keep complaining. Complain about the endings. Complain about the Day one DLC. Complain about the writing. Complain about anything...

"I've already got your money, dude"

Your outrage is meaningless if you've already given them your money. Vote with your wallet...

 

[mavkiel]

Not really hard at all. Ditch the ai god child, add a vi that explains the function of the weapon against the reapers. Make your choice..

*queue ending* Go over all the main choices in your game and the fate of your companions.

 

[lowkey_jotunn]

that is like saying because you pay for a movie ticket you get to demand the director change th movie.

How can people be so entitled?

More like going to a movie, and 90% of the way through it stops... the producers walk in and say "It'll be $2 more to see the rest of it."

Damn straight we have the right to complain about that crap.

Normally, I like DLC. I like mini-expansion packs that let me keep playing my favorite games. I like the fact that the money goes right to the developers, but this is a crock of shit.

I'd probably even let it slide if this was the first time... but it's not. ME2 had Day 1 DLC too. Bioware just had the good sense to wait a few months before "releasing" it. Hint: Kasume. The whole Stolen Memories arc was intended to be part of ME2. The content is complete and on your disk, but they dummied it out, and let you pay $10 for it later.

The fact that they've become so brazen about it now just furthers the point that we NEED a vocal minority to keep the devs in check, or else you'll be buying games a la carte soon.

Let's see, that'll be
-$60 for the game
-$5 per character (beyond the base 3 or 4)
-$10 for the ending
-$10 more for a PROPER ending (with addition $2 options for multiple endings)

It's like micro-transactions games, without the basic prerequisite of being free in the first place.

 

[Savagezion]

Um, aren't we the demand in the market?

No, you're a group of loud overentitled fanboys making noise on the internet.

Well, aren't we Mr. Nastypants tonight? I wouldn't say I am "overentitled fanboy" figuring that I actually opted out of buying the game because I didn't like what I saw. If the industry wants to crank out a whole bunch of Dragon Age 2's (Unpolished - Mediocre content) and WoW (Polished - unoriginal content) and call it "epic", I'll happily hang on to my money for a few years and wait for a shift in the industry.

As much as you may not like it, I am worth the same amount of demand you are in the market. There are people that didn't buy the game for similar reasons as me. I just can't prove how many that is and you plan on acting like you DO know. Blah, blah, vocal "minority". I don't really particpate in these ME3 threads despite my dislike. I may have posted in 2-3 now for a total of 3-4 posts after this one. I ain't loud, and you have no clue how large my demographic is.

The market didn't care, as can be demonstrated from the sales.

Touche.

But not every person who bought was informed on this issue either. Many bought it because "Mass Effect is popular". (Probably most did.) Brand loyalty is very real. After the catastrophe that was Dragon Age 2, after EA's acquisition, and now Mass Effect 3's triple layered public debacle, some fans are beginning to lose that faith in this particular brand loyalty. (Myself included.) You can hang on to it if you want it and so can all the people out there buying it "cuz its popular". I may pick it up sometime I may not, finishing "my story" isn't needed. (Especially, because my choices don't mean jack shit at the end anyways.) I take many issues with how the fans, the content, and the PR was handled around this game. It doesn't matter if the game is fun for a couple hours. (I have TONS of games that offer that) Not only does it all go to shit (gets extremely hollow) at the end, not only were the fans of the series extorted and, yes, exploited, now this chick is telling me I have no right to state that I feel that way?

Just for the sake of arguement, assume the DLC is A-OK as you claim, what about the other stuff like hyping up a Tali reveal and then only spending 10 minutes in Photoshop for this "epic reveal". I am not even a Tali fan and I see that as cheap and underhanded.

Mass Effect 3 is guilty of the same faults held against COD:MW3. It may not be released yearly, but we are seeing nothing new here and some serious lack of creativity in favor of cheap gimmicks of hype. It has all been done before in previous RPGs. It isn't epic at all, it is more of the same. Having the ending cinematic reflect your choices has been done but for some reason Bioware threw that out despite choice being a huge selling point to Mass Effect. This doesn't mean it can't be seen as a good game to some people, but I see it as "Meh, cool ...I guess." and I see the representation behind the game as "Hell no, I don't want to support that." Even if we rule out the DLC thing and the publicity the game by itself doesn't earn much bragging rights to its content.